Ask the Agent question of the day is a throwback to a classic! “What does that scary “if you bought this book without a cover it is STOLEN PROPERTY” warning inside some books actually mean?” (In which I discuss bookstore returns, how they work, why they’re good, ETC) www.tumblr.com/literaticat/...

Post by @literaticat · 1 image

💬 0  🔁 200  ❤️ 244 · In the front of many books, there's a note that says something to the effect that if you bought a book without a cover, its stolen property that was reported unsold and was des…

tumblr.com

Important post from @victoriastrauss regarding the Anthropic Settlement and all the recent issues and attendant questions: writerbeware.blog/2026/09/04/a...

Anthropic Copyright Settlement: Publishers Are Making Incorrect Claims on Authors' Payouts - Writer Beware

This week, many authors who are part of the Anthropic copyright class action settlement began receiving notices like this one: Upon accessing the portal (which doesn’t seem to have a formal name, so I...

writerbeware.blog

"True solitude is found in the wild places, where one is without human obligation. One’s inner voices become audible... In consequence, one responds more clearly to other lives." Wendell Berry (so missed!) on solitude and the two great enemies of creative work: www.themarginalian.org/2014/12/17/w...

Wendell Berry on Solitude and Why Pride and Despair Are the Two Great Enemies of Creative Work

“True solitude is found in the wild places, where one is without human obligation. One’s inner voices become audible… In consequence, one responds more clearly to other lives.”

themarginalian.org

Don’t miss it! WE ARE THE KEYSTONES: ANIMALS THAT HOLD HABITATS TOGETHER releases Sept. 1 from Beach Lane Books. Written by Katy Duffield Illustrated by Hannah Salyer ⭐️School Library Journal ⭐️JLG Gold Standard Selection @katyduffield.bsky.social @hsalyer.bsky.social @simonkids.bsky.social #STEM

The second installment of Stuart Gibbs’s Moon Base Alpha series has now landed in the glorious graphic novel format at any and all of your favorite book selling establishments - online, IRL, and anywhere in between. @simonkids.bsky.social

1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health

macabre = “muh-KAHB” Worcestershire = “WOOSS-ter-sheer” omnipotent = “ahm-NI-puh-tunt” reticent = “RET-uh-sunt” epitome = “ih-PIT-uh-mee” myriad = "MEER-ee-ud" Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading.

@fossillocator.bsky.social didn’t want to hijack your post on the Brazil garnet, but I was lucky enough to walk glaciers in Antarctica last fall and was surprised by the amount of granite pebbles like this one. Photo is by Nigel Howarth, taken at Davis Station.

Congrats to @sayantani.bsky.social @elanakarnold.bsky.social. Happy to see your names in this week’s deals! 🥳

Children's Bookshelf@pwkidsbookshelf.bsky.social · 2w ago

New book deals for @reggiebrownart.bsky.social @mollymendoza.bsky.social @shannonballoon.bsky.social + more buff.ly/YfoFgkd

“You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children” Dolly Parton #BeMoreDolly

Optimist: The cup is half full. Pessimist: The cup is half empty. Clinical Scientist: In a randomized parallel two-dose arm study of 450 cups with similar baseline characteristics, the primary endpoint was met (cup filled >=50%, p = 0.001).

Physgal ⚛️@physgal.bsky.social · 2w ago

Optimist: The cup is half full. Pessimist: The cup is half empty. Physicist: The cup is both half full and half empty.

Newbery Honor author Andrea Beatriz Arango spoke with PW about her new contemporary middle grade novel ‘No Place on Earth,’ writing in a new format, and making conversations about mental health more accessible buff.ly/vcrcFX1

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/101086-a-return-to-form-pw-talks-with-andrea-beatriz-arango.html

publishersweekly.com

Somewhere in this image of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is a viscacha... Viscachas are rabbit-like rodents related to chinchillas. They're well-camouflaged for the landscape of the Chilean mountains! #FaunaFriday 🔭🧪 📷: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/I. Sullivan (Hint… ↙️ 👀)

I spoke with "Her Deepness" Dr. Sylvia Earle about threats to our oceans and the importance of conservation and exploration right now: www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan... @missionblue.bsky.social @the-independent.com

Titan was an anomaly — submersibles are ‘safer than flying,’ says oceanographer

Famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle warns that humanity is ‘perilously close to tipping in the wrong direction’ when it comes to our seascape — and can never bring back the oceans we had — but, she tells...

independent.co.uk

Oh my goodness, I adore both of those books and authors! Thanks as always, @msyingling.bsky.social! I love that you noticed. 🫶

Ms. Yingling@msyingling.bsky.social · 4w ago

Loved the shout-out to @robinstevenson.bsky.social @simonkids.bsky.social MURDER IS BAD MANNERS and Arden's SMALL SPACES in @kristinlgray.bsky.social @simonkids.bsky.social MURDER AT PENGUIN RANCH (11/3/26)!

I’ve decided to share with all of my readers some of my thoughts about Paris, Chinon, and the hotel. It will be spread out over a few posts. jamieschler.substack.com/p/a-life-bey...

A Life Beyond Paris

Picture postcard perfect Chinon

jamieschler.substack.com

The Odyssey Project Hail Mary 🤝 Tell Me About A Complicated Man

EMILY WILSON@emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · last mo.

If you want a big spectacular book-adaptation American movie about a reluctant clever hero on an impossible journey through weird places (which I do), Project Hail Mary is great.

This is INCREDIBLE news

Ada Palmer@adapalmer.bsky.social · last mo.

Endometriosis takes nine years to diagnose. That’s about to change. NICE has approved two tests: a saliva test reading microRNA markers, and a gut-sensor test returning results in 45 minutes, sparing women the keyhole surgery currently needed. buff.ly/QX3jHk8 #ShareGoodNewsToo

Flat characters are one of the most common problems I see when I edit novels. Seven reasons they happen, and the fixes:

7 reasons your characters feel flat

Readers have to love your characters. Full stop. Characters who feel lifelike and relatable will compel your readers to turn the pages and breathlessly await the sequels. Characters who are dull or flat...

nathanbransford.com

Ran so far behind all day that now it’s just sunflowers in moonlight

O.M.G. This appears much worse than I knew

Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex at Robledo de Chavela municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain on fire. Burgohondo wildfire. 📷 via Infues Avila

I have a master's degree in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, I've studied the 'Odyssey' in Ancient Greek, and I've been writing about the ancient world for over a decade. This is my exhaustive review of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'. #Odyssey #classics talesoftimesforgotten.com/2026/07/23/a...

An Ancient Historian's Breakdown of Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' - Tales of Times Forgotten

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is perhaps the most highly anticipated new film of the 2020s. It has already received near-universal acclaim from film critics and earned more at the box office in its ...

talesoftimesforgotten.com

Nice! I talk about these icefish in my forthcoming middle grade novel MURDER AT PENGUIN RANCH, out this fall with @simonkids.bsky.social! #booksky #kidlit #edusky

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 301: Every story is based on a promise to the reader. Make sure you know what your promise is, and how you will fulfil it.

A thing no one tells you about being a writer is just how much time you’ll have to spend reading your own writing.

We absolutely cannot normalize wildfires everywhere and excess deaths from heatwaves. It’s going to get way worse as long as we keep burning fossil fuels.

At least 12,000 excess deaths in Europe's June heatwave: AFP analysis

At least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during June's heatwave, national statistics indicated, a toll that could yet rise as more data is released, according to an…

france24.com

Rest in peace to one of cinema’s most outstanding artists; the legendary actor Sam Neill (1947–2026)

And the same for authors and books

In a first, scientists recovered human DNA from ancient cave paintings, a breakthrough that could open new ways to investigate prehistoric human activity by enabling caves to act as “genetic archives." www.scientificamerican.com/article/anci...

Ancient cave paintings can harbor human DNA for millennia, scientists find

The breakthrough could reveal previously hidden ancient human activity inside caves, acting as ‘genetic archives’

scientificamerican.com